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A picture is worth a thousand words

Going beyond X-rays and color pictures, Gifford Family Dentistry has an amazing new tool, CariVu.

This diagnostic tool enables dentists to easily detect tooth decay with stunning clarity, including decay not yet detectable by either a camera or an X-ray. Patients can view these images immediately with their dentist on a computer monitor.

The dental X-ray is an important tool for diagnosing dental problems and has been around for over a century. But X-rays have their limitations, especially when tooth decay is in its early stages. Early decay can remain hidden by surrounding healthy tooth structure or fillings or crowns. And cracks in teeth are rarely visible with an X-ray.

Specialized cameras became the norm about 20 years ago. Dentists gained the ability to show patients obvious tooth decay and crack lines so that they could understand why their dentist was recommending treatment, even in the absence of symptoms.

But what about tooth problems that have not progressed to the point of being visible with a camera or X-ray, and haven't yet caused symptoms?

CariVu was introduced in 2014 to address this exact problem.

What does this mean for you? Your dentist can fix the early decay without delay, before it can destroy more of your tooth. And your dentist can save your cracked tooth before a root canal treatment or extraction becomes necessary.

Be proactive about protecting your smile so that it can last a lifetime. Ask us about CariVu today.